Hackworth, who was elevated from assistant to head coach in June, never has shown much enthusiasm for the former teenage phenomenon. Hackworth’s predecessor, Peter Nowak, brought Adu to Philadelphia in the summer of 2011 at more than $500,000 per season. Much was expected from the player in 2012, but Adu struggled to find any consistency and appeared in only one of the Union’s final six games.

He finished 2012 with five goals and one assist in 24 MLS matches and may have been a headache for Hackworth behind the scenes. In August, the coach said, “I’m still trying to push Freddy in the right ways to be an effective player for us … I’m trying to get Freddy, specifically, to understand that it’s not about Freddy Adu at all. It’s about the Philadelphia Union.”

Adu has played for eight clubs in five countries during his nine-year pro career. His contract reportedly is guaranteed in 2013 so if he’s to move on to a ninth team, the Union likely would either have to find a foreign club willing to take him on or trade him to an MLS rival while continuing to pay a good chunk of his salary.